Two Worlds Apart - Fancast Slytherin Boys

Chapter 21: A Living Nightmare

A/N

Read trigger warnings below if needed (contains spoilers)

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It was dark, really dark. The air smelled like smoke and rocks crippled beneath his feet. His vision was blurry and there was a stabbing pain in his leg.

Screams and cries were coming from everywhere and his heart was thumping in his chest, adrenaline pumping through his body.

And then he felt it.

The sting.

It took him all of two seconds to roll up the sleeve of his shirt on his left arm, his hands trembling significantly. There it was. Proof. Proof that he'd become the one thing he promised not to be.

Mattheo sat up in a jolt, his chest rising and falling repeatedly as he tried to catch his breath. He clutched his heart, his fingers digging into the pajama shirt he was currently wearing.

A light flickered on, Blaise had lit a candle. He sat up, letting out a groggy noise as he rubbed the back of his head. "What's going on?" he asked hoarsely, looking over at Mattheo from across the room. Mattheo swallowed and shook his head. "Nothing," he quipped, his voice cracking. He tried not to picture the inky skull in the back of his mind, but failed miserably.

He shivered, his head jerking up as Lorenzo turned over in his bed. "Can you turn the light off Zabini?" he groaned tiredly, barely awake.

Blaise tensed, then blew out the candle at his friend's request.

Mattheo closed his eyes and laid back down. Sleeping properly had become increasingly difficult, especially since discovering his own father was the one behind his ruthless attack at the Astronomy Tower. It felt like everywhere he went, he could never be safe. He always had to glance over his shoulder to make sure no shadows were looming over him.

He'd found out confined spaces made him sick. He assumed that fear came from spending all summer break locked in his bedroom, scared out of his mind that he'd come across any more dangerous people or even scarier creatures than the last.

Even staying in their dorm, when none of the other boys were around, made his stomach churn. Maybe that's why he followed his friends around everywhere he went. It was pathetic really.

He'd never been scared before. He was always fearless. But ever since his mother died, things had been very different.

Late at night, when no one knew what he was thinking, and when he didn't wake up from a vile nightmare, he found himself wondering if this was how Lorenzo felt when he broke down that day before the break. Did fear consume him too? Was the fear different?

At last he closed his eyes, hoping to at least get a few hours of sleep before having to wake up and experience it all over again.

Going to class was getting harder and harder. Maybe it was due to the shift in all of their focus, or maybe it was because of those new N.E.W.T classes. Draco, Lorenzo and Blaise had breezes through their exams, but Theo and Mattheo not so much. They were hanging on, unable to get into all the harder levels like their friends, but they still had most of their classes together.

Theodore was impatiently tapping his foot against the hard stone ground of the DADA classroom, Snape walking about like he was studying each student up close. He acted strange, like he was sizing each sixth year up as if they'd changed significantly over the summer.

The class was nearing its end, and it was clear that the older boy was itching to get out. "Nott," Draco whispered to Theo, nudging his arm with his quill. "Take notes."